Spanish Civil War ToT

[McMonkey]

Jerec,

This info is from the temporary Read Me file in the SCW folder. When you have had time to look at the files and suggest any changes please let me know and we can then begin the play test. The Nationalists move first.

The scenario should last 42 turns (to December 1939)

I would recommend checking the +TO DO Notepad file for a comprehensive list of changes and concepts. This is the document I use when working on the game so it is a bit chaotic, but it will give you some idea of what to expect and some of the changes I plan to make still.

CHANGES:
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The economies of both sides are finely balanced. The Republicans start breaking even. The Nationalists have a shortfall that is made good by a 600,000

Pesetas per turn subsidy from Germany and Italy. You should aim for a new tech every turn if possible, though this may slow down as the game wears on,

depending on who is winning and losing!


Engineers can transform Plains, Grassland and Forests to trenches (+100% defence) by transforming using the 'o' key.


Supply ships should be sailed to the nearest Anarchist Port which they should then attack. The Port will always win and the Supply Ships destruction triggers

an event that will give cash and arms in return.


Supply Convoys can be driven to where they are most needed and disbanded in exchange for their high shield value.


If City Defences are destroyed upon capture they MUST immediately be rebuilt using the CivCity tool. Save your game, rename the save from .hot to .sav

(ignore warnings), open CivCity, load the save and add the Defences back + save, rename the file back from .sav to .hot, reload your game and play on. This is to ensure that hotly contested cities are not destroyed completely.


Road pillaging is not allowed in game and there is a house rule forbidding it too. The same applies to Stackable terrain.


The Ju52 Airlift unit uses the Paratrooper ability. It will carry two sleeping units with it when it airlifts (P= paradrop). You are only permitted to
airlift Infantry units and the Airlift must be between two friendly cities within range, no airlifting into open country, that will have to wait for WWII!


Miliciano's are no longer go anywhere Partisans. Now they are a cheap workers Militia as they were historically.


Unit movement has been greatly increased so that historical movements can be recreated. For example the army of Africa should be able to airlift from Spanish

Morocco and then march to Madrid and fight within the first few months, not within a few years as in the original.


I have included Stackable terrain to allow the movement of large formations without the risk of annihilation from a single enemy aircraft.


OBJECTIVES:
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Nationalist - Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Cartagena and Bilbao (3/5 = Victory) + hold Cadiz, Seville, Burgos, Cordoba and Zaragoza (4/5 = Victory).

Republicans - Cadiz, Seville, Burgos, Cordoba and Zaragoza (3/5 = Victory) + hold Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Cartagena and Bilbao (4/5 = Victory).

I may revise this, but for the purpose of the playtest it seems logical!


PLAYTEST QUESTIONS:
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- Is the tech speed right?

_ Is any particular unit too strong / weak / cheap?

- How does the economy work out?

- Are there too many event reinforcements?

- Does one side have an unfair advantage?

[McMonkey]

and the sounds...

[Jerec]

Just did a quick look-see, noticed a couple things. More to come later.

1. Not much to pillage now, so my old Miliciano tactic is defunct just from that. Not being able to build them also sinks the tactic just as effectively.

2. Mountains are supposed to be impassable according to your notes, but I was able to move ground units on them. Mistake?

3. Engineers aren't buildable? It will be very hard to capitalize on creating an industrial advantage on either side then, I suspect. And the Republican's industrial capacity is what I consider the balancing factor to the Nationalist's advantage in number of quality Infantry and reinforcements. Would you consider making them buildable, or adding an event to create them if you want to control how many there are?

[McMonkey]

1, Your pillaging tactic in our previous game was extremely effective but not historically accurate. Historically the Miliciano units were a militia made up of factory workers with bolt action rifles and a few machine-guns, not a go anywhere guerilla unit that operated behind enemy lines. I could see no reason for them to have such an advantage over other Infantry types.

2, This is a mistake and I will rectify it in the version we will play from. I think I messed this up when trying to sort out mining!

3, This is something I have overlooked and I will look at making them build-able for both sides!

Feel free to point out any other anomalies you spot and additions that would make the game more fun.

[Jerec]

Ah yes, sorry, didn't mean to suggest that I wanted the Milicianos changed--just noting that you had effectively changed their practical use. By all means, the more historically accurate, the better!

[McMonkey]

I understood what you meant, I just thought I ought to explain why I had made that change. I think it is best if I include an event for engineers (say a random chance of 1/10 each turn) as they could seriously unbalance the scenario if mass produced. I'm hoping the changes I have made will transform this already very good MGE scenario into the finished article that Pablostuka would have build had he access to ToT back in the day. We will see.

Do you need more time to scrutinise the scenario or shall I begin? No doubt we will pick up on things that need changing as we play. As long as they are mainly changes to the Rules file we can do them as we go along if we both agree.

[McMonkey]

Today I have been testing and tweaking the unit stats. I found some were too strong and others too weak. Hopefully I will be able to get a good balance so you can have a fair idea of combat outcomes but there is still an element of unpredictability. All ground units now ignore City Walls. The walls primary purpose is to stop the city being destroyed. Without this change the war would be primarily carried out by Air and Artillery units. Now Infantry have an offensive part to play too. I have also made the AA Defences improvement available from the start to counteract the powerful Bombers. I will continue to work on the unit stats tonight at work. Hopefully I can get the blend right!

[Jerec]

Did a little testing myself of the unit stats, some direct tests via cheat mode and some with Kobayashi's combat calculator. Came to the same conclusions as yourself--air power is very potent, and city defenses make creating fortress cities very easy.

I think we can start as soon as you like (after finishing tweaking the unit stats, I guess) and make changes on the fly. Far more exciting than scrutinizing the scen on my own.

[McMonkey]

Jerec,

I made some final adjustments to the unit stats, mostly decreasing the attack power of Aircraft and ships and increasing Infantry defence slightly. I have included them here for you. When I have finished my first turn I will post the save. You won't need the latest scenario file to play your turn.

I'm about half way through my first turn and it is taking a while to get the situation under control. I must say that I'm having a blast. The stats seem to be working perfectly so far and the scale of the map combined with the cross country mobility of Infantry means I am having to be a lot more cautious about how I defend my territory. This is good as it somewhat offsets the advantage of going first. So far I have taken eight Republican towns, all relatively minor, and mostly in the south-west and north west where I have my main power bases. I don't expect I will take many more this turn. Unfortunately I have to leave for work now, but I will finish my turn and post it as soon as I get home tonight. Hopefully the UK/US time zone difference will mean you get it at a reasonable hour.

Must dash now!

[McMonkey]

I'm really sorry, but I'm afraid I have run out of steam tonight after work / beer / football. I will play first thing tomorrow morning (now only a few hours away!).

[Jerec]

No worries about when you finish the turn, I'll be busy enough myself with RL that it'll take at least a day or two to get through it, probably more.

[Jerec]

Took an hour and a half last night just fiddling with cities and devising an overall strategy (it's going to be maddening trying to make defensive lines starting with only 1 Engineer in Barcelona.) All considered, I most likely won't post the turn until this weekend--I want to put up a good fight now that the Nationalist onslaught will be so much harder to contain! I apologize for taking so long, but RL work has decided to really squeeze me until Friday, and considering the length of the turn...well, I'll be trying to get through the turn ASAP, but no promises until Saturday.

[McMonkey]

No rush mate. Take your time and enjoy it! I think I must have overlooked the starting engineer levels. Feel free to cheat five engineers in Madrid, Valencia, Albacete, Ciudad Real and Guadalajara, all with NONE support. I will add this to my to do list for the final version. It seems logical to me that if the country was split roughly 50/50 both sides would have had access to equal amounts of engineering equipment. Even if it is not historically accurate it will be good for gameplay!

[Jerec]

Thanks for that, the engineers will be put to excellent use! Construction of multiple defensive lines has begun. Began working through the turn today--I don't know how you were able to finish it so quickly yourself, I feel like there is so much more to do, even after spending a couple hours on it! Bomber capabilities are indeed powerful, especially since the only available fighters--Neiuport 52s--aren't capable of shooting them down. Of course, as soon as a bomber attacks a fighter or hits AA defences, it's immediately shot down. Realistic, IMHO. I have begun my own little offensives in-game: Teruel and Segovia have fallen to ground troops. Still pondering whether to chance my 5 bombers in Guadalajara on a strike to a city behind the lines where enemy Fighters aren't likely to pop up.

[Jerec]

Regarding Engineers. 1 can transform a square to Trenches in 10 turns. An infantry unit can get from Malaga to Madrid (roughly a straight line) in 2 turns. This ratio seems a little off, IMHO. The time required to make a defensive line spanning more than 1 square across a bottleneck would be enough so that it would most likely be overrun before being finished, unless near the opposite end of Spain or costly stalling tactics are used to slow the enemy down. Understand, I can certainly work within these current setting by only using the Engineers for key cities, and throwing any plans for a solid line out the window--but I'm not sure if this is what you intended. I'm hoping to hold off on actually finishing the turn until I'm sure this is deliberate, since it would change my plans if a longer defensive line becomes feasible.

Observations here: An example of the above would be what I have done in the first turn above Samosierra, destroying the 2 Nat Infantry fortified on hills for the cost of only 2 non-vet Rep Infantry. Given that that was with a fortress factored in for defense--cities don't even have that advantage--this scenario reminds me very much of Justinian the Great. An offense is the only viable defense, making the player with the greatest massed firepower the inevitable victor. In this case, the comparison is even more extreme because in Justinian, fortresses can be built relatively quickly to establish a cohesive barrier to protect the vulnerable cities. For SCW, cities may be fortified with units like Armored Cars and Trucks, making them into lone fortresses--but the countryside will be swept away. And those cities can be reduced by eliminating their shield production, decimating the dependent garrison. In that respect, the Nationalists have a small edge with their certain # of units with free upkeep.